[Adopted 10-13-1964 as Art. 1 of Ch. 3 of the 1964 Code
(Ch. 74, Art. I, of the 1982 Code)]
A.
BOROUGH
DOG
DOG OF LICENSING AGE
KENNEL
OWNER
PERSON
Definitions. The words hereinafter defined shall have
the meaning herein indicated for the purpose of this article as follows:
The Borough of South Plainfield in the County of Middlesex.
Any dog, bitch or spayed bitch.
Any dog which has attained the age of seven months or which
possesses a set of permanent teeth.
Any establishment wherein or whereon the business of boarding
or selling dogs or breeding dogs for sale is carried on, except a
pet shop.
When applied to the proprietorship of a dog, includes every
person having a right of property on such dog and every person who
has such dog in his keeping.
Any individual, corporation, partnership, organization or
institution commonly recognized by law as a unit.[1]
[Added 3-14-1991 by Ord. No. 1231]
B.
Word usage.
(1)
The words "and" and "or" may be used interchangeably,
and either of the two may be applicable, whichever is more conducive
towards the effectuating of this article.
(2)
Personal pronouns shall mean either the singular or
the plural, whichever is applicable and conducive towards the effectuating
of this article.
(3)
The masculine, feminine or the neuter gender shall
be implied, whichever is appropriate and conducive for the effectuating
of this article.
No person shall keep or harbor any dog of licensing
age within the Borough of South Plainfield in the County of Middlesex
without first obtaining a license therefor, to be issued by the Borough
Clerk upon application by the owner and payment of the prescribed
fee, and no person shall keep or harbor any dog in said Borough except
in compliance with the provisions of this article.
Any person who shall own, keep or harbor a dog
of licensing age shall, in the month of January and annually thereafter,
apply for and procure from the Borough Clerk a license and official
metal registration tag for each such dog so owned, kept or harbored,
and shall place upon each such dog a collar or harness with the registration
tag securely fastened thereto.
[Amended 12-23-1968; 12-28-1981; 12-12-1983; 4-14-1994 by Ord. No. 1352; 2-23-1995 by Ord. No. 1390; 2-1-2010 by Ord. No. 1873]
A.
The person applying for the license and registration
tag for a dog shall pay the annual fee of $15 for a spayed/neutered
dog or the annual fee of $20 for a nonspayed/nonneutered dog. Said
license, registration tags and renewals thereof shall expire on the
last day of January each year. If a dog license tag has been misplaced
or lost, the Board of Health or the Office of the Borough Clerk may
issue a duplicate dog license tag for a fee of $5 per dog.
[Amended 9-8-2020 by Ord. No. 2180]
B.
Dogs used as guides for blind persons and commonly
known as "Seeing Eye" dogs, dogs used to assist handicapped persons
and commonly known as "service dogs" and dogs used to assist deaf
persons and commonly known as "hearing ear" dogs shall be licensed
and registered as other dogs hereinabove provided for, except that
the owners or keepers of such dogs shall not be required to pay any
fee therefor.[1]
[1]
Original § 74-5, Newly acquired dogs, original § 74-6,
Contents of application, original § 74-7, Dogs brought into
Borough, original § 74-8, Removal of registration tag, original
§ 74-9, Licensing of dog establishments, original § 74-10,
Fees for kennels and pet shops, and original § 74-11, Dogs
kept in kennels, which immediately followed this subsection, were
deleted 2-1-2010 by Ord. No. 1873.
A.
The Council may from time to time by resolution establish
a pound and the Mayor may from time to time, as the occasion may require,
nominate and by and with the advice and consent of the Council appoint
a poundkeeper, who shall hold office at the pleasure of the Council,
or the Council may by resolution enter into a contract with any humane
society in the Borough or county or other similar association not
organized for pecuniary profit as poundkeeper for the collection,
keeping for redemption and destruction of all strays found within
the municipal limits in accordance with the provisions of this article.
Such poundkeeper or duly authorized agent of such humane society so
contracted with or any police officer may seize and take into custody
and impound or cause to be taken into custody and impounded and thereafter
destroyed or disposed of as provided in this section:
(1)
Any dog off the premises of the owner or of the person
keeping or harboring said dog which said official or his agent or
agents have reason to believe is a stray dog.
(2)
Any dog off the premises of the owner or of the person
keeping or harboring said dog without a current registration tag on
his collar.
(3)
Any female dog in season off the premises of the owner
or person keeping or harboring said dog.
B.
If any dog so seized wears a collar having inscribed
thereon or attached thereto the name and address of any person or
registration tag or the owner or the person keeping or harboring the
said dog is known, the person who by this article is authorized to
seize and who by this article has so seized any dog shall forthwith
serve on the person whose address is given on the collar, or on the
owner or the person keeping or harboring the said dog, if known, a
notice in writing stating that the dog has been seized and will be
liable to be disposed of or destroyed if not claimed within seven
days after the service of the notice.
C.
A notice under this section may be served either by
delivering it to the person on whom it is to be served or by leaving
it at the person's usual or last known place of abode or at the address
given on the collar or by forwarding it by post in a prepaid letter
addressed to that person at his usual or last known place of abode
or to the address given on the collar.
D.
When any dog so seized has been detained for seven
days after notice, when notice can be given as above set forth, or
has been detained for seven days after seizure, when no notice has
been given as above set forth, and if the owner or person keeping
or harboring the said dog has not claimed the said dog and paid all
reasonable expenses incurred by reason of its detention, including
the sum of $1 for the seizure and maintenance of the said dog for
the first 12 hours and the sum of $0.50 for each additional day thereafter,
and if the dog is unlicensed at the time of seizure and the owner
or person keeping or harboring the said dog has not produced a license
and registration tag for said dog, the said poundkeeper or agent of
the said humane society, or any person authorized under this article
to do so, may cause the dog to be destroyed in manner causing as little
pain as possible.
E.
It shall be the duty of the poundkeeper or agent of
the humane society, as the case may be, to keep male and female dogs
separated at all times, and it shall be the further duty of said poundkeeper
or agent of the humane society to segregate and keep segregated all
sick animals and animals suspected of being affected with any communicable
disease; and every dog so seized or impounded shall be kept, fed and
kindly treated by the said poundkeeper or agent of the humane society
for the period of time as herein provided.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original § 74-13, Disposition of license fees, as amended, original § 74-14, Report of kennel, pet shop, shelter and pound licenses, original § 74-15, Annual canvass of dogs, and original § 74-16, Power to impound dogs, which immediately followed this subsection, were deleted at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
No person shall hinder, molest or interfere
with anyone authorized or empowered to perform any duty under this
article.
[Amended 8-16-1990 by Ord. No. 1212]
No person shall keep, harbor or maintain any
dog which habitually barks or cries. For purposes of this section,
a dog which barks or cries continuously for periods of five minutes
at a time shall be considered a dog which habitually barks or cries.
A.
No dog shall be allowed to leave the premises of the
person owning or entitled to the custody of such dog in said Borough
unless the dog is securely confined upon a leash and/or muzzled and
accompanied by a person over the age of 12 years.
B.
The Mayor may designate times during which dogs outside
the premises shall be confined by an adequate leash, such designation
to be by publication at least three times in a newspaper in which
legal notices of the Borough may be published, and after such publication
no person owning, keeping or harboring a dog shall permit it upon
a public highway, public place or outside the premises occupied by
the owner, during the period designated, unless such dog is securely
confined by an adequate leash.
[Added 4-14-1975]
A.
No person owning, harboring, keeping or in charge
of any dog shall cause, suffer or allow such dog to soil, defile,
defecate on or commit any nuisance on any common thoroughfare, sidewalk,
passageway, bypath, play area, park or school ground or any place
where people congregate or walk, or upon any public property whatsoever,
or upon any private property without the permission of the owner of
said property.
B.
No person owning, keeping or harboring a dog
shall permit or suffer it to do any injury or to do any damage to
any lawn, shrubbery, flowers, grounds or property.
A.
Any dog which has attacked or bitten any human being
or which habitually attacks other dogs or domestic animals is hereby
defined to be a vicious dog for the purposes of this section. It shall
be the duty of the Chief or Acting Chief of the Police Department
to receive and investigate complaints against dogs, and when any dog
complained against shall be deemed by such Chief or Acting Chief of
the Police Department to be a vicious dog as herein defined, the said
officer shall report the facts to the Police Court Judge of the Borough
of South Plainfield, who shall thereupon cause the owner or person
harboring such dog to be notified in writing of the complaint against
such dog and to appear before said Police Court Judge at a stated
time and place. The Police Court Judge at the time set for such hearing
shall inquire into the facts and give all interested persons an opportunity
to be heard, under oath, and to be represented by counsel, and the
Police Court Judge shall decide in accordance with the evidence before
him, and if the Police Court Judge shall decide that such dog complained
of is a vicious dog as defined by this section, notice of such decision
shall be given to the owner or person harboring such dog. No dog which
has been so determined to be a vicious dog shall be permitted to run
at large or be upon any street or public place in the Borough of South
Plainfield except while securely confined by an adequate leash as
provided by this article.
B.
Any person who shall permit any dog to run at large
or be upon any street or public place in the Borough of South Plainfield
except while securely confined by an adequate leash, as provided by
this article, after said dog has been determined to be a vicious dog,
as provided in this section, shall be subject to a fine not exceeding
$25 or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 10 days, or to both,
in the discretion of the court.
[Amended 8-16-1990 by Ord. No. 1212[1]]
Except as provided in N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.19, any
person who violates or refuses to comply with any part of this article
shall, upon conviction, be subject to one or more of the following:
a fine of not to exceed $2,000, a term of imprisonment not to exceed
90 days or a period of community service not to exceed 90 days.
